National team
Müller’s Ghana warning: “Nobody will carry you through the tournament”
“We got three points and we can be happy. But then of course we’ll move on to the next game. Setbacks come quicker than you think,” says Thomas Müller. Photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Thomas Müller also likes the rush after the European Championship opener. But he remembers that the second task can be tricky. The Munich native doesn’t want any “emotional splurge”.
“We got three points and we can be happy. But then we’ll obviously move on to the next game. Setbacks come quicker than you think,” said the 34-year-old. “So enjoy it and still stay grounded,” he added as a guideline for the next few days of training at the team’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
Remembering 2014
What was Müller thinking about? His first tournament experience at the 2010 World Cup, for example. In South Africa, a 4-0 win against Australia was followed by a 0-1 defeat against Serbia, and in the last group match against Ghana, they had to wait until Mesut Özil scored the winning goal (1-0) to avoid progressing. The same scenario four years later: after a 4-0 win against Portugal, they drew 2-2 against Ghana in Brazil. Only the 1-0 win against the USA secured their place in the knockout rounds on the way to the World Cup title. Goal scorer in the rain in Recife: Thomas Müller.
“It’s not about the feeling, it’s about the points,” said the Bayern professional, feeling generally happy after the landslide victory against Scotland. “We always had great feelings and then played 2:2 against Ghana and lost to Serbia in 2010,” he recalled.
Emotional babble doesn’t help
The difference to the three disappointing tournaments at the 2018 World Cup, the 2021 European Championship and the 2022 World Cup, when there were opening defeats: “Because you won the first game and you lost the second, you’re still in the tournament. This emotional babble is always nice to read, but no one carries you through the tournament. You have to win the games. Accordingly, the points are decisive,” said Müller.